I wonder if they track incremental ticket sales after each announcement.

Seattle's ballet company always has early renewals, with just a few highlights scheduled for the next season. They can tell by how many people renew before the full season is announced who is there to see the company, either no matter what they perform or assuming that there won't be major changes.

I sent SOI and email asking them to bring Patrick Chan as a guest skater. He will be in Toronto on May 6th for a function and our show is May 4th.
Last year we were shortchanged when the WC ended up on the same day as SOI.

"Oh wow. They just announced that the cast includes Virtue & Moir, Weaver & Poje, Davis & White, Jeremy Abbott and Ashley Wagner! So we get three dance teams in Canada! And the top US skaters in 3 disciplines. Quite the lineup! I honestly don't know why the US tour doesn't just move to after Worlds...they clearly would have a bigger pick of skaters if they did!